A/N: New expansion news at Blizzcon. Apparently Teldrassil gets burnt down or something, so I may just be throwing in the towel when it comes to WoW xD Never fear- I will continue to live out adventures in writing! Where nothing has to break my heart after ten years of being my home away from home! :D

Deegan's breath escaped him with a humid snarl as he tried concealing his panting, furiously dragging a massive tauren behind him with a smirk on his face. He stomped toward a block in the center of the keep, used for executions, as he noticed his guards rushing over to see what had happened. He paused for a moment, dropping the tauren to the ground as he lifted his grandiose battle-axe into the air, laughing.

"We go one of 'em, boys!" he shouted, happily, violently shoving a giant boot into the tauren's side, causing the helpless being to roll over in pain, "Now I know how to attract rats, but these vermin are an odd bunch. Though, I think I know how to bring them out of the woodwork…"

After recovering his breath, Deegan lowered himself to grasp ahold of the tauren once more, continuing to drag his body along the dirt, "Men! I want you surrounding this perimeter! If anybody even tries to halt this business dealing, I want them killed, got it?"

"Yes!" ""Yes, sir!" came from various guards, taking their positions while also keeping an interest in the Horde body being trailed through the mud.

Vylira leaned over the railing of a wooden balcony that was attached to the inn the three had been hiding in, Kyra and Colin both arriving soon after. Their eyes watching, seriously, looking out less for the tauren than for Syheath, having heard Deegan Poore's massive proclamation.

"You think they'd be stupid enough to try and save him?" Colin wondered aloud.

Kyra nodded, "No doubt in my mind. They seem like a tight-knit bunch if they were willing to break into the man's prison just to rescue somebody there. He must be putting on this show wanting them to try and do so."

Colin's lips fell into a frown as he looked around the opposite end of the settlement, watching particularly for other balconies or walkways that were obscured by being up a story or two along buildings. He suddenly noticed that human from before, an unmistakeable sight due to his thick beard.

"There!" Colin spoke up, pointing toward him.

The sisters followed his finger, watching as the man worriedly held his hand at his chin, pacing back and forth, nervously, as he looked on, watching as Deegan barely struggled to drag his companion across the ground.

"Certainly seems like he's thinking of something," Vylira muttered, quietly.

Colin turned toward them, "Well- If they do, do we help them?"

Kyra eyed him, drolly, "You know how I feel about that. It isn't our fight."

The two suddenly turned toward Vylira as she shed her traveling cloak, revealing her darkly ornate armor, not bothering to turn back toward them as she spoke up, "I don't give a damn about whose fight it is. If I see Syheath, I'm protecting her."

Kyra sighed, shaking her head as she returned to watching Deegan's movement, the gigantic brute of a man arriving at the stone, dropping the tauren atop the wide piece and adjusting him so that his head and body were on either side, leaving his wide neck exposed along the rock. Colin could feel his skin crawl at the sight, his breath shaking as his heart began to race, thinking of Vylira hopping right off this balcony and into the fray.

Suddenly, his eyes jumped back up to where the man had been, finding nothing there, now. Colin bit his lip, watching the scene intently now as Deegan began to shout.

"ALRIGHT! You vermin; come on out! If you don't, you know what's going to happen to this beast!" the man shouted, almost happily.

The tauren shook his head, "You're wasting your time, human."

Deegan gave a quick stomp to the tauren's back, shaking his head, disappointed, "Shut up. I've had enough of you and your friends trying everything to get me deposed; this has been a long time coming."

"Such a proud man," the tauren began to mock, "Yet you needed men who play with sticks to help get rid of us."

Deegan snarled, kicking at him again, angrily, "You're just making this execution that much sweeter just thinking about shutting that mouth up once and for all."

He swung the enormous axe up into the air, having it land upon his shoulder before taking its handle with both hands, spreading his legs as he prepared for the task, taking another look around before preparing to bring the weapon into the air.

Colin's hands wrapped tighter around the railing of the balcony, his eyes glaring onward as he jumped in surprise at Vylira's sudden outburst, "There she is- melded into the shadows between those two buildings! Surely she's not going to do this by herself!"

Vylira's muscles tightened, though she refrained from joining for now. Despite the idiocy of trying to stop this execution, she was sure there was at least some plan in place, her eyes carefully continuing to scan the landscape as she tried piecing the puzzle together. As she stared, Deegan's grip tightened around the handle of his wieldy axe, pulling it over atop his head, grinning wildly as he finally shouted.

"LAST CHANCE!" he cried, almost having to hide a maniacal laugh, as he furiously brought his hands down toward the stone.

Not two feet along its arc, the axe suddenly halted in mid-air, Deegan's momentum nearly knocking himself to the ground as he desperately held onto the axe above his head. He angrily shot his head up toward his weapon, feeling the rope that had wrapped around its head before having to see it. He angrily sneered as he followed the frayed line up toward a nearby balcony where two elves stood atop its banister, the blood elf seriously stretching his knuckles while the other remained clad in a pelt, crouched so low as to appear that she hadn't any legs to begin with along the thin bean of wood.

Deegan blew hot air in a snort as he waved his guards forward, "What are you WAITING for?!"

His guards hurried along, following his orders despite the awe they'd felt from their master's wishes being undermined by two small beings, as Deegan turned toward the tauren, his face steaming as he let go of the axe, leaving it to fall onto the ground where the rope slid it along for a moment, "I will kill you this day, tauren. If it isn't the last thing I do before the rest of your pack gets away."

Tandkota eyed him from below, "You spent so much time preparing for us to run-"

In a split second, Deegan was upended by Remnaar and Ulric, the two men tackling the giant of a man at the same time, taking him to the ground, leaving Ulric to jump up to his face and began punching him, Deegan's bones coming back at him like concrete. The giant wildly threw his arms around until grasping at Ulric's neck, choking him as he violently pulled hi down into the hard ground, leaving him dazed.

Deegan immediately pulled his body up to find Remnaar dashing away, his eyes following the draenei curiously. Suddenly, a soft clicking crossed the air, coming from within his armor. He quickly reached for his legs, trying to shove his hands in between slits, but they were too massive to fit, leaving nothing but a loud explosion coming from within his armor, alongside a muffled cry from the man himself.

Ulric had rolled away and returned to his feet, slightly disoriented as he looked toward the throng of guards which had stopped their advance to stare back at their captain in horror, leaving Parvaen and Shadowmoon alone atop the balcony. The blood elf skillfully tugged along the rope that had run along toward the center of the town square, around Deegan's axe, the other end of the long rope having been tied atop the same balcony he was on. He rushed to the other side of the balcony, looping it around a post as a fulcrum before tossing the weighted end to Shadowmoon, who tied it around her, just before making a mad dash along the rooftops.

The guards, unaware, were standing right in the middle of the trap. The axe weighing the rope down, Shadowmoon's speedy movement brought the looping rope toward the collection of guards, suddenly catching them and knocking them over toward the building, the lot of them toppling over in their heavy equipment, right into each other.

Parvaen gave a cocky grin as he leapt from the balcony, his feet falling right onto a guard's head as he happily hopped from one to the other, sing-songingly going on, "Bet-ter you than me~!"

Shadowmoon cut her line as she stood atop a roof, watching the ground where Ulric and Remnaar were struggling to help Tandkota away, the tauren having been done a number on before the potential execution. The massive being could help but laugh as Ulric, especially, grunted along with every step.

"For Thrall's sake, would ya lose a few pounds, man!" Ulric cried out, weakly.

Tandkota chuckled, which only caused the two beneath his shoulders to have to stop and hold their balance to keep from falling over, "You tell me to be a healthy tauren to keep up with you, and now look where we are."

Remnaar, too, began to struggle as he laughed along, "We should have had Parv take the bait; he's a Hordish man himself."

Ulric grumbled, "Yeah, but Deegan may not have made such a show of a measly being."

He eyed his two companions, "I didn't say that. Now let's get a move on."

Ulric and Remnaar continued, far slower than any of them had anticipated, not having accounted for such a load. Ulric worriedly checked over his shoulder, finding nothing but a shoulder of fur, and went on, eyes closed, praying that nothing would hinder their-

"HEY!" came the voice of Shadowmoon, which forced both Ulric and Remnaar to drop Tandkota to the ground as they spun around, horrified.

Deegan's body had returned to its feet, and seemingly gaining on the three of them. Horrified, Ulric looked on as Deegan's body, mutilated from the waist down, turned around to the approaching Shadowmoon, the night elf walking up to him in order to stop his advance. Ulric grimaced as Shadowmoon eyed him, jerking her neck to tell him to go on, though he paused, suddenly unsure of what to do.

"Ulric!" Remnaar shouted, breaking his silence, "What do we do?!"

Suddenly, Ulric noticed the group of guards beginning to find their way to their feet, the guards already having stood now helping others to their feet. He eyed Remnaar for a moment before returning to Shadowmoon, noticing Parvaen was similarly unsure of what to do as the blood elf remained in place, terrified by Shadowmoon's adversary.

"Watch Kota!" Ulric ordered as he immediately shed his backpack, lightening his load, before making a mad dash back toward Deegan Poore and Shadowmoon.

Remnaar groaned, looking down at the injured tauren, who only shook his head in dismay, "Very disrespectful. Go on; I can look after myself, thank you."

Grinning, Remnaar gave him an appreciative nudge with his hoof, the body part being a rather symbolic gesture of partnership for the two of them, "Stay safe, my friend! I shall return!"

The draenei immediately dashed off himself as Tandkota sighed, sadly, "All the fun…"

Shadowmoon glared up toward Deegan's seething teeth as he stumbled ahead, the skin of his legs torn and ripped to shreds, dangling back and forth as he stepped forward, fists clenched as fury glowed in his eyes. Shadowmoon jumped into a fighting stance as she whipped out her two father's, though Deegan only growled in amusement as he fell forward, stopping his fall as his hands shoved into the earth below, steadying himself with a knee and yanking his hands back into the air, clutching two fistfuls of rock and dirt, shaking his head.

"You…have…no…idea…" he heaved, exhausted, as if his anger itself was draining his energy.

He winded up his punch as Shadowmoon readied herself to defend, a vigorous shout escaping his mouth as he threw his fist forward, when suddenly, a bright red lasso caught his arm, yanking it backward, at least as best as it could. More so than restraining him, the lasso seemed to singe his skin, causing him to miss his blow as his cry of anger turned into one of pain. He quickly waved off the ball of earth on one hand to soothe his arm, which seemed nearly charred as the lasso evaporated into the air.

He threw his head to the side to see a man walking toward him, his hands held out as they seemed to wrangle an unruly line of red rope, his face serious as he walked over to where Shadowmoon stood, pausing as she turned toward him, surprised, "Colin?!"

He could only cock a swift grin as he dropped the glowing red whip, which immediately blew into a cloud of steam, shrugging, "Figured you could use some help."

He pointed over his shoulder, directing Shadowmoon toward Vylira and Kyra, who were positioning themselves between them and the collection of guards, prepared to hold them back, when she also noticed Parvaen coming to his senses, running over to assist the two in some primal sense of comradery.

"Fools, all of you!" Deegan shouted, shaking his head with a steaming snort, "You're only enjoying the last few seconds of your miserable existence!"

He quickly swung at the two, though Shadowmoon skillfully hopped up into the air while Colin waved his arm through the air, blowing a blast of charred air in Deegan's face, knocking him back, his body leaning backward as his face rose to the air as he clawed at his burning skin. Shadowmoon landed with a massive blast onto his face, knocking his body to the ground as she rolled away, steadying herself as she remained crouched low to the ground, peering over to find Ulric, and further beyond, Remnaar, rushing over to help.

As he laid on the ground, Deegan's frayed hair covered his now-blackened face as he turned toward Shadowmoon, conjuring up whatever sinister scheme that he could. Suddenly, he rolled onto his stomach, jumping into the air toward Shadowmoon, catching her in surprise. Colin immediately dashed after him, charging whatever balls of flame he could to toss at him mid-stride, but as Shadowmoon darted backwards, Deegan followed just as quickly in his maniacal state, simply cranking along like an enraged bull.

Finally, Shadowmoon carelessly darted back into a building, the shock of her body hitting the solid wall jarring her enough to faze her as Deegan leapt at her wildly, grinning ear to ear as he threw an open hand into her face, grasping onto her skull as he ripped her from the wall and turned around, finding Colin and Ulric now in pursuit.

The two men slid to a stop as Deegan chuckled, standing there with Shadowmoon's still body hanging from his hand as if she were a hostage, Ulric speaking lowly to Colin as he carefully ran his eyes up Deegan's arm, "He's desperate. He won't do much else to harm her, otherwise he has nothing to barter with in exchange for escape."

Deegan scoffed, "You seriously think you have the upper hand? Boy, you tried blowing my goddamn legs off and I'm still standing; you've got nothing."

"And you've got the last person you should ever choose to have in your hand," Colin spoke gravely, rubbing the palms of his hands together, slowly, almost calculatingly so.

Even Ulric found his words to be slightly odd, though he remained cautious while Deegan began to laugh, stopping immediately upon noticing Remnaar approaching the group, pointing toward Ulric, demanding, "Tell him to stop!"

Ulric eyed him for a moment before waving Remnaar off, though the draenei had already slowed once he had noticed Shadowmoon's limp body. Deegan sneered as he looked over his shoulder as if to look for an escape, having noticed his guards quickly falling to the ground as they met their match in Parvaen and two Silverwings.

Suddenly, Colin pulled his hands apart, throwing them both in Deegan's direction, two massive bursts of flame materializing between them before spurting giant licks of flame that covered Deegan's body, save for his arms. He cried out as he began flailing about, using his free hand to try and pat the flames down, leaving his other hand over Shadowmoon's face.

Ulric then quickly grabbed two daggers of his own, tossing them in Shadowmoon's direction as she sprung to life, grappling the sharp weapons and shoving them deep into Deegan's arms as he continued holding her, his cries growing to a bloodcurdling crescendo as Ulrich immediately talked the general, flames and all, knocking him away as he relinquished control of the night elf, the two tingling to the ground as Colin pulled his arms into his body, extinguishing the flames as he looked on, horrified.

Ulrich whipped out how sword as he straddled Deegan's torso. The general's eyes were gone, his sockets nothing but black char, leaving the massive man nothing but a terrified quaking of his body as Ulric ran his sword just barely against his neck, leaning down close to his face so that he could speak in a whisper.

"I win."

And with that, he yanked his sword's edge right across Deegan's neck, flipping his sword in the air as what little blood it had carried with it flung into the air. Deegan's body laid there, lifelessly; his once mighty body now appeared so broken, shriveled, and scorched, leaving him looking like nothing more than a common criminal left at the stake.

Ulric rose to his feet, sighing, as he turned toward Shadowmoon, seeing that she was at her feet as well, Remnaar looking over her face for any injuries. His eyes then met Colin's, his eyes open wide in shock at what he'd seen. He remembered having such innocent eyes himself, though that had been so very long ago for Ulric. He simply made his way back over toward the others, noticing Parvaen hurrying back, the guards done for.

Passing Colin, who remained still as he looked on at the sight of Deegan's corpse, he placed a hand on his shoulder, pausing only to mutter near his ear, "Something you have to get used to up here."

Colin's blood ran cold, his body finally jerking away upon hearing Kyra's voice as she shouted to him, leaving Ulric to rush off toward the others. Kyra immediately took Colin into a hug, though it was unrequited as he was still in a daze, but Kyra was quick to reach an arm up around his head, pulling him down into her shoulder to hide his sight.

Vylira kept an eye on the other party as they quickly were preparing to recover their tauren friend and leave, almost critiquing them through narrow eyes as she caught sight of Syheath, her younger sister's eyes even managing to meet her glance as she pulled her cloak up over her head, her face saddened before disappearing into the dark hood.

Ulric's group quickly began to rush off, though Ulric was slow to follow, himself, slowly turning around, staring at the three behind him, finding Vylira's intense stare, but also Kyra holding Colin against her. He saw her hand atop his head, clutching his hair tightly as if to keep his secure, her eyes allowing only the most gentle stream of tears.

As they held one another, Ulric's lips pulled to the side in though, his absence already catching the attention of his others, who had all stopped to turn and watch what he was up to. He slowly approached Vylira and the other two, crossing his arms as he sighed, unsurely, before speaking.

"You seem like you've been around," he pointed out to Vylira, before turning toward Kyra and Colin, who had patted and had bother turned to face him, though their hands remained together, "You two…obviously are much too unaware to be here. Where you headed?"

Kyra watched him carefully herself, though slowly turned toward Colin, once again relinquishing leadership to him, though he seemed rather apprehensive about it. The first person he turned to was Vylira, who continued staring hard at Ulric as if to get some sort of read on him, though she finally turned her head toward Colin as well, nodding to give her subordination.

Colin stammered a bit in his reply, "I mean, uh-"

"It's the least we could do," Ulric nodded, with a half shrug and a slight grin, "I may be a proud man, but I'm not stupid. I know we'd have been in a much different spot without you three back there. I figure the least we can do is help you get to wherever you're going. Besides. Shadowmoon seems to know you're decent people, and Rem, back there, saw you two back in Valgarde; he knows you're of the respectable sort."

In his mind, it seemed like a chance, albeit incredibly slight of one, at getting these sisters to reconcile, leaving him with nary another option than to accept, though he knew, by Vylira's own advice, not to trust anybody out here, keeping that in mind as he spoke up, "We're going through the Blight to the Borean Tundra. Just for some drawings."

Ulric failed to hold back his laugh as he shook his head, "I'm glad I reserved that 'stupid' title. But hey, a debt is a debt. I'll take you as far as Wintergarde- we don't disturb those ashes, and few do, so once there, you shouldn't have much to worry about."

He quickly eyed Colin's two 'bodyguards', chuckling lightly as he turned around, "My god. You two. Whew."

The Silverwings shared a similarly sarcastic glance at one another as Ulric walked off toward his crew, Syheath shooting the three a devilishly rebellious glare before following along behind her leader. Colin turned to the two beside him, sharing his own look of amusement as he shrugged.

"Well," he muttered aloud, humorously, "I'm raking in the bodyguards!"

Vylira eyed him pithily, rolling her eyes in whatever a fashion night elves might partake, "Don't let it go to your head. And don't take kindness for loyalty. That man will sell you down a river if he needs to."

Colin assured, respectfully, wrapping an arm around Kyra's shoulders, "Don't worry. You're the only two I trust out here."